Lighting-fixture.



E. C. WHITE.

LIGHTING FIXTURE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 5. 191a.

Patented Jan. 9, 1917.

lnvenmr:

' ditions of use.

E STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST CANTELO WHITE, 01? EVANSTON,

ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE DUPLEXLIGHTING SYSTEM, INC., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A

GORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

LIGHTING-FIXTURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 9, 1911?.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ERNEST CANTELo WHITE, acitizen of the United States, residing at Evanston, in the State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inLighting-Fixtures, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

Interior artificial lighting is generally accomplished by either directlighting, in which the rays pass directly from the luminous point to theobject, indirect lighting, in which the object is illuminated wholly byreflected rays, or semi-indirect lighting, in which the object isilluminated partially by reflected rays and partially by a luminoustranslucent reflector.

The present invention has to do with a fixture having a reflector of thesame general character as that shown in U. S. Patent No. 1,168,939,issued to the present applicant on January 18, 1916, but seeks toimprove the reflector for such a fixture in order to eliminate certainpossible objections to such a reflector arising under certain con- Theprincipal objections, briefly stated, are, first, that an opaquereflector having an opening in its bottom through which the rays passdirectly to the object, does not direct or focus these rays to anydegree and, second, that the down wardly reflected rays through theopening are visible from all ordinary angles of view and so impair thegeneral softening efl'ect peculiar to indirect and semi-indirectlighting. In accordance with the present inven tion, these mainobjections are overcome by providing a downwardly flaring secondaryreflector for the rays for direct lighting, which reflector is of suchcharacter as to direct and focus these rays on the objects beneath thelight and prevent the direct passage of rays of light to the eyes of anobserver at all ordinary angles .of View. This secondary reflector forthe direct rays is carried on the usual opaque or primary reflector forthe indirect lighting and may, indeed, be either integral with. suchreflector or detachably secured thereto. Further, the secondaryreflector may be either translucent or opaque. Where, as has been foundeffective in practice, a translucent diffusing member is mounted in theopening in the bottom of the opaque primary reflector for indirectlighting, this member may be either mounted removably on the opaquereflector, or where the secondary reflector is translucent, may beformed integral therewith, thereby constituting a unit adapted to bedetachably engaged with the primary reflector. All of these permissiblesubstitutions and rearrangements will appear in greater detail inconnection with the following description of two feasible embodiments ofthe invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure1 is a view of so much of a lighting fixture as is necessary for anunderstanding of the application thereto of the improved reflector, thereflector being shown partly in section and partly in elevation. Fig. 2is a View similar generally to Fig. 1 but showing a somewhat modifiedform of the secondary reflector for the rays for direct lighting, thisreflector being made integral with the translucent difl'using member.

As in the specification of the patent above identified, the term objectis used in this specification to refer particularly to a limited zone orarea to be illuminated directly under the lighting fixture and the raysreferred to are assumed, for convenience, to emanate from an electriclight, although it is evident that any other source of light may beused. The fixture, indicated generally at a, may carry a fitting a fromwhich extend supporting arms a for the primary opaque reflector b. ()nthe fixture a is also carried a lamp socket a in which is fitted thesource of light 0. In an indirect lighting fixture, as such, thereflector 5 would, in inverted position, present an unbroken reflectingsurface, so as to throw all. of the rays of light to the ceiling forreflec tion to the objects in the room to be llluminated. In otherwords, no rays of light would be permitted to pass directly from thesource of light 0 to any object.

In the improved fixture it is proposed to retain all of the desirablefeatures of indirect lighting by causing the inverted reflector Z) todivert a large percentage of the rays from the source of light and throwsuch rays to the ceiling from whence they will be reflected to theobjects in the room. However, it is often desirable even in rooms havingthe softest lighting effects to have available a limited field of directlighting for the more intense illumination of objects directly beneaththe fixture. Accordingly, the indirect lighting provided for by theopaque reflector b is supplemented, in the applicants fixture byproviding an opening I) in the bottom of the reflector and directlybeneath the source of light through which rays of light are reflectedand permitted to pass directly, downward to the objects to be moreintensely illuminated. Such rays of direct lighting will ordinarily bedifl'used so as to retain the soft effects of indirect lighting by meansof a translucent member d disposed in said opening I). The improvedreflector, as thus far described, is shown and claimed in the patenthereinbefore referred to.

The present application is concerned with the improvement of a fixtureof the general type described by the provision of a secondary reflectorfor the rays of light for direct lighting. In Fig. 1 such a reflector isformed as a downwardly flaring opaque member 6 integral with thereflector b. In this construction the diflusing member or plate d mayrest on suitable flanges b struck up from the opaque reflector 6 aroundthe periphery of the opening I). The reflector b? for the rays fordirectlighting, consid ered as an element independent of the indirect lightingreflector 1), serves to redirect and focus those rays of light which arereflected downward from the lower portion of the reflector Z) so as tocreate directly be neath the fixture a limited zone of direct lighting.To'bring about the desired concentration and focusing, the contour ofthe reflector Z) may be changed as required to best serve its purpose.In the drawings it is indicated as flaring downwardly in which form,when translucent, it also diffuses light on the exterior of the primaryreflector b but it is evident that it may be cylindrical and either ofregular or irregular cross sectional form. The translucent secondaryreflector by throwing light on the exterior surface of the primaryreflector thereby creates in this primary reflector an additional sourceof diffused luminous lighting. Not

only does the reflector b serve the important function described insupplementing the indirect lighting by a useful element of directdownward lighting formed by rays focused, but it also prevents any raysfrom passing directly to the eyes of an observer at any ordinary angleof View. Where the translucent plate d is employed, for instance, thisplate may be considered, for convenience, the luminous point and,without the secondary reflector b would appear as a source of directlighting to the eyes of all observers at ordinary angles of view.Obyiously, where the benefits of indirect lighting are sought to beobtained, it would Lancer usually be objectionable to have the glare ofsuch a luminous object in the room. This is especially true when, as inthe case of Iii-- trogen lamps, the brilliance is so intense as topreclude direct lighting. The improved reflector b conceals thetranslucent plate d at all ordinary angles of view so that the observerdoes not lose the ornamental effect of the entire fixture and his eyesare shielded .from the glare of the direct rays. The

ture from the construction shown in Fig. 1.

without loss of the advantages of the invention, by making the reflectorB for the rays for direct lighting independent of the opaque reflector Bfor indirect lighting. In this construction the downwardly extendingreflector B is detachably mounted on the opaque reflector B as by theengagement of thumb screws e'carried by the opaque reflector B andengagin the downwardly ex tending reflector B In this embodiment it isindicated that the translucent plate D may be carried by the downwardlyextending reflector B so as to be detachable from the opaque reflector Bwith said reflector B A further departure from the construction shown inFig. 1 resides in the use of a translucent reflector B for the rays fordiview from the luminous plate D which receives direct rays from thelight a at right angles to its plane. In this embodiment, the benefitsof indirect lighting are retained and the supplemental direct lightingbeneath the fixture is secured in the most efiective way.

Other changes in the details of construction and arrangement of partsmay be made without departing from the spirit of the invention providedthe advantages described are realized by means which fall within theappended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a lighting fixture, the combination of a source of light, aprimary reflector formed with opaque sides and a centrally disposedbottom opening, the said primary formed with a centrally disposedbottom.

, cepting a portion of the light rays transmit-- reflector housing thesaid source and reflecting a portion of'the light therefrom upward, anda translucent secondary reflector carried by the primary reflector andextending downwardly from the bottom thereof and intercepting a portionof the light rays which pass downward from the said source through thesaid opening.

2. In a lighting fixture, the combination of a source of light, aprimary reflector opening, the said primary reflector housing the saidsource and reflecting a portion of the light therefrom upward andanother portion of the said light downward through the said opening, anda secondary reflector extending downwardly from the bottom of theprimary reflector and intercepting a portion of the light rays reflectedthrough the said opening by the primary reflector.

3. In a lighting fixture, the combination of a source of light, aprimary reflector formed with opaque sides and a centrally disposedbottom opening, the said primary reflector housing the said source andreflecting a portion of the light therefrom upward and another portionof the said light downward through the said opening, and atranslucentsecondary reflector carried by the primary reflector and extendingdownwardly therefrom and intercepting a portion of the light raysreflected through the said opening by the primary reflector.

4. In alighting fixture, the combination of. a source of light, aprimary reflector comprising opaque sides and a translucent bottomsection, the said primary reflector housing the said source andreflecting upward a portion of thelight therefrom, and a secondaryreflector extending downwardly from the said primary reflector andinterted from the said source through the translucent section of thesaid primary reflector.

5. In a lighting fixture, the combination of a source of light, aprimary reflector comprising opaque sides and a removable translucentbottom member and reflecting upward a portion of the light from the saidsource, and a secondary reflector formed integral with the saidtranslucent bottom member and extending downwardly there from andintercepting a portion of the rays transmitted from the said sourcethrough the said translucent bottom member.

6. In a lightingfixture, the combination of a source of light, a primaryreflector comprising upwardly flaring opaque sides and carrying atranslucent member to form a bottom closure thereto and reflectingupward a portion of the light from the said source, and a translucentsecondary reflector .formed integral with the said translucent .memberand flaring downwardly from the bottom of the primary reflector.

7. In combination with a source of light,

a lighting fixture having an inverted opaque reflector to throw rays oflight upward, said reflector having an opening formed in its bottom togive auseful element of direct downward lighting, a downwardly extendingtranslucent reflector for the rays for direct lighting having its upperedge disposed within said opening, a flat translucent plate disposed inthe opening and formed integral with said translucent reflector, anddevices carried by the opaque reflector for securing said translucentreflector and plate detachably to said opaque reflector.

8. In combination with a source of light, a diffusing member positionedbelow the source of light and a reflector formed integral with the saiddifl'using member and extending downwardly therefrom so as to interceptall rays transmitted from the said source through the said difl'usingmember and emitted therefrom in all directions above all ordinary anglesof view.

This specification signed this thirtieth day of March, A. D. 1916.

ERNEST CANTELO WHITE.

